City Lights No. 21 - Summer Rain, original pastel

City Lights No. 21 - Summer Rain, original pastel

475.00

City Lights No. 21 - Summer Rain, original pastel

475.00

For all of my cityscape artwork, I work from photo reference material and field sketches. But when it dumps rain, I'm reduced to relying on a quick snapshot.

I caught this wonderful view along 10th Street in downtown Philadelphia, near the Jefferson University Hospital. As I sloshed out into the street to get this angle, a man who was sheltering underneath a doorway to smoke a cigarette called out to me.

"What are you doing?" he asked, somewhat incredulous that a dumb tourist would go out into the middle of the road during a downpour.

I explained to him that I'm an artist and that rain is a treasure trove of inspiration. I concluded by showing him the thumbnail view on my camera, and suddenly it became crystal clear for him.

"Wow, that's pretty cool."

I hope so. I love a good summer rainstorm, and subjects like this are extra fun because they veer into abstraction with the myriad colors at play.